I feel like this week was full, but looking back, it seems pretty boring. Maybe because most of what I filled my life with was actually feeling like being productive. Which doesn't make it into my calendar or photo library. Alas.
Damian was back again this week. This time he brought his brother-in-law, Matthew, to help out. They finished (I think?) all of the mudding and taping. Which is his least favorite part. But he's coming back tomorrow night for a few days. I think next up is texturing the walls. It's coming! Hooray!
So the girls finished their swimming lessons this week. It was bittersweet. I miss the time alone in the middle of the day. They miss swimming. But it is nice to have a normal schedule again. And it's nice for BJ not to take 1-2 hours off of work every day. Kessa almost passed level 2 this time. She only missed being able to float on her back unassisted while kicking for 2 body lengths. So the question now is... do I put her in level 2 again? Hmmm...
Abby has decided she hates her diaper when it's dirty. So she takes it off, then poops on the changing pad. Or the blanket. Or wherever she feels like it. In good news, she doesn't play/paint with it like I've heard of other kids doing. Hooray! But it's still annoying to clean up. Or when she pees and it gets everywhere and I end up putting 7 blankets, 12 stuffed animals, plus a pillow or two, and sheets and mattress pads, etc. in the wash. Or scrubbing down half of her floor on my hands and knees. So we've decided to start potty training. We keep a potty chair in her room (because her accidents often happen at nap or bedtime) and one in the kitchen. Once she starts having some successes and figures out what we want from her, I'll move them into the bathrooms. But I don't want to spend my life in the bathrooms. We have her sit on it multiple times a day. We're bribing her with jelly beans, which she really wants. And she's getting the language down. So far, though, our only success was today when she told me she got a "little pee pee" in the potty. And she turned out to be right. It was maybe the size of a nickel. It was tiny. But I made a huge deal about it and gave her a jelly bean. So hopefully we're on the right path? I feel like we're not giving it our all, though, because we usually put her in a diaper at night and sometimes naps. It's not like she can't take it off... but it might prevent some cleanup for us. So we hope. And she's in a diaper whenever we go somewhere, which is often as we have been taking walks every couple of evenings. So basically, we're hoping for a miracle.
Yesterday we had a party at your parents for Brian and Danztel's wedding. It was fun to see everyone. Kessa insisted on bringing her bike, so she rode it around a lot. And there was lots of yummy food. So it was good. Also, Chelsea brought down clothes for the girls (and a skirt for me) for the wedding, so we tried them on. It was adorable. Just look at the picture. But the best part was Abby, pleased as punch, walking around saying, "Abby pretty! Pretty dress! So pretty..." She thought it was the greatest thing ever. And she cried when I told her she had to take it off. I'm going to have to hide it lest she find it and put it on herself and get it dirty before the wedding.
Then we rushed home and I changed into a dress and headed over to our Stake Activity Days Day Camp, aka Daddy/Daughter Princess Ball. My Activity Days counselor and her committee planned and did the whole thing, which was great as I've been busy recovering from baby stuffs. They did an INCREDIBLE job. Especially considering our teensy weensy budget for it. I loved it. And there was a HUGE turnout. I'm guessing around 200 people total? The gym was full of little girls and their daddies. We had several dads that wore suits (and sometimes cummerbunds!) to match their daughter's dresses. Adorable. But my favorite parts were 1) watching the dads that were clearly way out of their comfort zones, but dancing anyway, because their daughters wanted them to, 2) watching the dads bust out 90s dance moves, including a line dance I didn't even recognize, whenever their era of music came on. Songs like "Ice, Ice, Baby". And the girls watching them and trying to mimic them. 3) The last song was Josh Groban's "You Raise Me Up." I was seriously moved to tears as I watched several dads pick up their girls and dance with them in their arms, or kneeling on the floor to be on the girls' level. It was so incredibly sweet. I heard that it was a similar heart-wrenching scene when they played "Butterfly Kisses" halfway through, but I missed that one. But we had several requests to do this again, so I think it was a success.
And THEN last night? Peter slept for 9 hours. Which means I slept for 9 hours. It was amazing. I am trying not to get my hopes up for a repeat performance. It's hard.
So you know Pi Day is 3/14 every year, right? Well, that means 6/28 is 2π day! But it was crazy busy yesterday, so we didn't have time to celebrate. Instead we had a 2π+1 dinner tonight. Travis and Brenda came and we had a chicken pot pie for dinner (except I forgot the chicken... oops!) and an apple pie for dessert. Then we played some MarioKart and Dominion. And it was great.
Random pictures:
On a walk the other day, Abby was really tired. So she'd lean over the side of the stroller and sat there, half comatose. It was kind of cute.
On another walk Peter managed to get his arms out of his swaddle blanket. He also really likes to kink his head way back in the most awkward looking positions.
Kessa made a monster out of Duplos and immediately asked me to take a picture of it. You can't tell, but those red legos are angled and look like feet.
With long hair I would wash my hair at night and let it dry while I slept. It would be a little crazy in the morning, but gravity kept most of it under control. And I could always pull it into a ponytail if I didn't have time to tame it. Turns out, this haircut is not going to allow me the same privilege. Check it out. Pretty awesome, huh? And this picture doesn't even begin to do it justice.
One of our projects this week was to dig up our front flowerbed, dig up all the tulip and daffodil bulbs, add compost to the almost pure-clay soil, replant the bulbs, then plant some annuals for color. We only got the first half done, but that was by far the hardest part. I'm hoping to get the rest done first thing tomorrow morning. Though, I may let the bulbs dry out and wait till fall to plant them again. Which means I could get the petunias planted in about 3 minutes and call it done. Kessa wanted to help me with the shovel.
Having Damian here all week also meant lots of time with our garage door open, which means lots of flies. So BJ climbed over storage, strollers, bikes, etc, onto the couch, to hang a fly strip on the garage door braces. The things we do... Also, it's probably a really good thing we got rid of our second car. We don't have room for it anymore.
Abby and Peter cuddled up with Trav tonight while we played MarioKart. It made it a lot easier to beat him when Abby was constantly trying to throw his items for him. Bwahaha.
Random things
From my journal:
Tonight both girls had memorable prayers.
For the first time Abby actually said a prayer. Generally we just say one for her. Not even a repeat-after-me prayer. She won't repeat. “No, Daddy say it!” We just say a prayer on her behalf. Tonight BJ did that, then was trying to get Kessa to pray when suddenly Abby started praying aloud. She said Thank You for 15-20 different things before getting distracted and not really finishing. Thank you big monkey and little monkey. Thank you Kessa's bed. Thank you window. Etc. how adorable is that?!
Kessa was saying a pretty good prayer when she stopped partway through. “Daddy, I stopped to listen to the Holy Ghost, but I can't really hear him.” So they talked about how he can sometimes help you think things. “So what are you thinking?” She thought a moment more and said, “He told me 'In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.'” So she closed her prayer.
Abby doesn't know the meaning of the word "scared" yet she really loves to use it. For example, she was walking with BJ down the stairs, holding his hand. At every stair she'd happily say, "I too scared" and then she'd jump down to the next stair. All the way down. There's another example in the kiddisms. It's hilarious.
I got an email from Pinterest telling me I'm a top pinner and inviting me to try out a new feature. I'm not sure if I should feel embarrassed about this or not. But turns out, nursing gives me lots of time to pin! So I've been pinning again. I hear there's a max number of pins you can have and the official advice is to just set up a new Pinterest account when you hit that number. I think that's a horrible solution and I'm fearful for when that day comes. :/
I've started reading aloud to Kessa. We started with Charlotte's Web. We just read a chapter here and there throughout the day, whenever one of us thinks of it. So far she really seems to be enjoying it. I'm enjoying it, too, so I'm glad I decided to do it. I can't wait till Abby is older and I can have both of their rapt attention.
Kiddisms
- While I was doing Abby's hair:
Abby: I'm scared.
BJ: Is mommy making your hair so pretty?
Abby: I'm happy now! - Travis: How come you pay more attention to Peter than you do to me?
Kessa: Because I love Peter more than I love you.
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